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| President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Fights with Commander of Ukraine General Valery Zaluzhny |
Kiev - An internal conflict is ongoing between the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces General Valery Zaluzhny. The news of the clash was revealed by a Ukrainian government source quoted by Bild on Monday (6/3/2023).
Kiev insiders told the German tabloid that the army chief called for a troop withdrawal from the main city of Donbass several weeks ago. "Zaluzhny advised the president to leave Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, rather than continue to defend it as Russian troops threaten to overrun the city," the paper reported.
But the Ukrainian president declared the town a stronghold, and refused to pull troops back. Russian troops have made important progress in the struggle for Artyomovsk this year.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group private military company, claimed last Friday that the area was "de-facto completely surrounded," with only one road available for a possible evacuation.
According to US media, Washington has urged Zelensky to withdraw from Artyomovsk and focus on preparing a major counteroffensive for the spring using Western-supplied weapons, but Ukraine's president fears the morale blow such a move would cause.
The city is part of a 70 km long Ukrainian defensive line drawn up since Kiev initiated the fighting in Donbass in 2014. US officials have assessed that its defeat by Russia will not affect the strategic situation.
Bild sources claim Ukrainian troops in Artyomovsk "do not understand why the city is being defended" and believe they should have withdrawn a long time ago. Zelensky recently said Ukrainian troops would keep him as long as it "remains reasonable" to do so.
German tabloids have also noted Zaluzhny's popularity for leading military campaigns against Russia making him a worthy challenger to Zelensky as a presidential candidate. The general has yet to publicly announce his ambitions to run, but rumors have been swirling in Ukraine for months about Zelenskyy's concerns over a possible contest in the election.